


Child Of No One

by NERD_Version_3



Category: The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Angst, Awkwardness, F/F, F/M, First Love, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Love, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-07
Updated: 2016-06-14
Packaged: 2018-03-21 17:55:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 12,669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3701337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NERD_Version_3/pseuds/NERD_Version_3
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The gods sent their children to save the world..<br/>Well, their children and me.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Tara:

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing! Except for Tara, and the concept of blessing.. The concept of slipping is Boombashkas's, and that is ONE awesome fangirl..  
> Plot is also mine, but it's a big world, people get the same ideas a lot of the time. Thank you for taking the time to read this!

 

"Just why am I here again?" A beautiful woman was holding my arm in a tight vice-like grip. Right above my elbow. Here. Just where is "Here" Capital H? Looking around I didn't know what to think.  
Definitely "Capital H"  
It seemed that everything here was capital. I was in a throneroom, for giants. Twelve giganourmous (that IS a word) thrones were positioned in a semi-circle around something that looked like a bonfire on a silver platter. Eleven giants in dresses (Even the men!?) were seated on the thrones. One was empty. It was right in middle. I looked at the vice-woman holding me. She was wearing the same kind of dress the rest of the giants (even the men!!!) were wearing.  
Not dresses, togas!   
"Just where am I?" Again I was ignored. Or well... Eleven stern, concerned, annoyed and even frightened looks were directed at me.  
Yay... Attention... *sarcasm* *wink*  
"What have you done!?" Somebody in the throneroom spoke up. My eyes darted to the speaker. It was a young girl, maybe twelve? Thirteen? I don't know. She was pretty. Pfft.   
"This human is our only hope" I was pretty quick to decide that: No, I don't like Vice-Woman. Her voice was cold and icy and controlled. Bad news for me.  
"How will a mortal be of help to our children?" A guy who looked alarmingly like Sean Bean, leaned over his knees, and was now staring me up and down.  
"We will bless her" A cold smile spread on Vice-Womans face as the rest of the twelve began shouting and protesting all together at the same time.  
"All of us!?"  
"It has never been done before!"  
"How will we know she won't turn against us?!"  
"A mortal with that much power?"  
"We can't!"  
"KILL HER!"  
Everybody looked at the tuff guy who had just proposed to: "Kill her"  
"Really Ares?" A pretty woman with grey eyes and black curly hair massaged her temples.  
"I think it's a good idea!" Mick Jagger had apparently joined the party.  
Now they were arguing on: How to kill me, when to kill me and why.   
"Enough!" I shouted to what i now realised wasn't cross-dressing giants, but greek gods.  
"You're all gonna shut up and listen!" I pointed to Vice-Woman, (Who had now let go of my arm and was smirking satisfied)   
"Who are you?" She made an annoying grimace and looked at me with disgust.  
"When speaking to a god it is normal courtesy to say "Lord" and "Lady""  
"You'll be known as "Lady-Vice"" I turned around, ignoring the gasps and muffled giggles from the rest of the gods.  
"Where am I?" I crossed my arms, demanding respect.  
"You're on Olympus" The kindness in the pretty womans voice took me by surprise.  
"And I am Athena" She added.  
"Godess of wisdom and battle strategy!" Actually knowing something in this eff'ed up situation gave me courage. Athena just smiled at me, and I smiled back.  
"Okay....." I started pacing the floor.  
"How did I end up on a mountain in Greece?" Lady-Vice walked past me and started growing. At first I thought she was going to explode. It would have been fun. But she stopped when she was about the same size as the others (Which was huge BTW). She sat down next to Cross-Dresser Sean Bean and looked at me with her eyebrows raised as to say: "Now that I'm a giant, I bet you're scared of me". Dream about it Vicy.   
"You're not in Greece" The pretty young girl spoke up again. Her hair was brown and her skin was pale, her eyes were sorta grey-yellow.  
"But.... Mount Olympus"  
"Is the center of power in the western world" A guy with sandy hair and elfish looks interrupted me.  
"Hermes" He waved awkwardly as he introduced himself.   
"So... Olympus moves with the time?" Athena nodded approvingly at me.  
"Okay. But-why-am-I-here!?" I blurted out my question ever so elegantly and instantly covered my mouth.  
"I'd like to know that too!" A squeely-girly-blondy-popular-girl-voice complained.  
Lady-Vice straightened her back and said something in greek. I got the last word. Something about tartar-sauce.  
Apparently tartar-sauce is taboo, because everybody either gasped, screamed or just looked at me.  
"Like" The blonde popular-girl-in-high-school-goddess (who just HAD to be Aphrodite) swallowed a lump in her throat-  
"She walked through?" Lady Vice shook her head.  
"She stayed there" More gasps. Aphrodite placed a hand over her heart and looked at me with pity.  
"For six months" Aphrodite screamed. Then she stood up, tears flowing down her cheeks, shrunk to normal size and hugged me tightly. I could smell her expensive perfume. It was like being choked in the strong scent. Which for some reason triggered me off completely. I started gasping for air. She let go. But it was too late. Pictures of darkness ran through my mind, red clouds, breating acid, drinking fire. Being in constant danger. Fearing for my life every moment, of every day. I had fallen to my knees. Aphrodite had jumped away from me.  
Like I was contagious.   
Like I was a freak.  
Something told me I was used to being treated like a freak.  
Something from a different life.  
I stopped hyperventilating.  
"I'm not from here am I?" Lady Vice stood up.  
 "This is Tara" She gestured to me. Something about the name sounded familiar.  
 "She is from a land far to the north. A land where other gods reign. The nordic gods." As she went along I remembered. I remembered a white house on a field. corn ready for reaping. Horses. Cats. Once a dog. But was I alone? I couldn't seem to clear the fog in my head, not before Lady Vice went on anyway.  
"She never felt like she belonged. Not in Denmark" Denmark that was it! My head started hurting as an entire language popped out of my memory, no two languages popped out.  
"One day it was to much and she ran away" Now I just felt bad. I remember leaving at 5 Am.   
"I probably really hurt my parents" Aphrodite was the only one close enough to hear my mumble. She offered me her hand to help me up. It was nice of her, but i think i can stand up by myself.  
"She flew to New York City  where she was homeless for six months and..."  
"STOP"the aggresivness in my own words surprised me. Considering I was seconds away from breaking into tears, my voice was pretty steady.  
"It hurts to remember so... Please just-" My voice cracked and I looked away  
"Just get to the point" My arms were crossed, this time more pathetic and protective.  
Aphrodite looked at me with pity. Pretty much everyone did. But Athena seemed to admire me more.  
"The crew of The Argo II Has the Athena Parthenos. But without Percy and Annabeth..."  
"They will be falling apart" Artemis finished the sentence no one else would.  
"Where do I come in in all of this?" Okay, truth be told. I was tired. Tired of not knowing what was going on, where I was, WHY I was there, where i was going and why a bunch of cross-dressing GREEK GOD-GIANTS WERE LOKING AT ME LIKE I WAS AN INFANT ORPHAN- WITH NO ARMS!!!  
*Poker face*  
"YES! I'm DYING to know" Everybody facepalmed.  
"Hades, this is serious!"  
"I thought it was funny..." The god of death was no-doubt very funny.. ha ha... I simply didn't have time to enjoy his great godly humor.  
"Ha ha Hades..." I crossed my arms in a mocking manner.  
"You're so funny you're going to kill me" Hades looked at me with hope in his eyes, hope of a new pun-partner. (that IS a word)  
"Back on track!" A god with (Let me be honest) a horribly misshaped face lead the attention back to Lady-Vice.  
"Hera" A man with sea-green eyes stared her down.  
"You have some explaining to do"  
"I already said we're going to bless her" Everybody opened their mouths at the same time, but Lady-Screwdriver held up her hands in a stop everything gesture (No pun intended)  
"I have also summoned other... smaller gods..."   
"Who are you calling a "smaller god"!"   
"Iris!!!!!" Aphrodite looked (And sounded) like a fangirl obsessing over her favourite artist.  
"Aphrodite" Iris looked anything but exited.  She couldn't escape the hug though. She fought bravely, and went down with honour. She hugged Aphrodite back with one arm and half-a-heart.  
"Is this the girl?" Iris was smiling and pointing at me, while looking at Hera (LADY-VICE)  
"Yes Iris. That is Tara" Iris was still smiling. And she was normal-sized, which was nice!  
"I'm Iris, the goddess of rainbows" She flashed me a huge smile and shook my hand.  
Then she slapped my black jeans. And they turned bright yellow.  
How do I react to that?  
"Um......" I looked at the rainbow goddess with questioning eyes.  
"Too much black depresses me" She was still smiling, but it wasn't annoying. It was nice. Everything was weird and uncomfortable and there she was. Smiling, lighting everything up, just by being there.  
Like a rainbow after a thunderstorm. A promise. The promise that the sun will shine again. A promise I needed.  
"Iris have you seen the Algea? I would have expected them by now" Lady-Screwdriver was grinding her hands impatiently.   
"The Algea?" Four or five different gods asked at the same time.  
"There is a dark side of power, that is what will balance her" Hera looked at me suspiciously and continued her lecture in greek. It seemed like she was slowly convincing the other gods.  
After ten minutes of greek scolding all the gods grew restless. The one with the misshaped face was the first to talk.  
"Very well mother" Hephaestus held up his hand as if giving in.   
"She will have my blessing" After that all of the gods seemed to agree, some in english, some in greek. One with a Haiku...  
I am so awesome  
The girl gets my blessing  
My hair is perfect  
I just mentally facepalmed at Apollos Haiku. Still a lot of questions were buzzing in the back of my head, but I was starting to understand the situation. Still, a few questions were un-ignorable.  
"What does it mean to get someones "blessing" and who am I supposed to help and for the love of Zeus Apollo...... Just.... cut the Haikus!"  
"Oooooh ooooooh can I explain it?" Aphrodite was jumping up and down like an overly-happy teenage girl.  
"Sure, why not?" Hades made a motion with his hand as if whether my questions were answered by a caffeinated teenage girl, or a person didn't matter.  
"Well" Aphrodite began putting a hand on my shoulder and dragging me away  
"When gods have children with mortals..."  
______________________________________________________________________________________  
Walking back to the throneroom, I wasn't sure I was ever gonna be hole again. Can you imagine a biology-class. Like where the teacher talks about sex and stuff... Imagine doing that, only DNA, monsters, something about space, superpowers, scents, and animal sex were for unspoken reasons mixed into the conversation.  
I'm just going to go cry in a corner if that's alright...  
"Honey you look pale!" I felt like throwing up.  
"Are you alright?" NO!!!  
"I'm just a bit overwhelmed is all" Overwhelmed was an understatement.  
"Aphrodite hon!" Hera called out over the room, catching her attention.  
"The Algea are here!"  
Aphrodite grabbed me by the shoulders and turned me around to face her. She was surprisingly strong.  
"Tara" She looked serious. The whole "Teenage-girl" thing was gone, and I saw real, deep worry in her eyes.  
"Getting a gods blessing basically means that they give you the power of their children, their strongest children. But where it would be a natural part of the child, it will more be like... Like" She fanned her face looking for the right words. Obviously stressed.  
"Like, if it is an extension of the demi-god, it will be a mutation to you." I looked at her with pure horror.  
"So you're saying I'll grow an extra arm or something?" Aphrodite smiled sadly.  
"No, it will be like, a prosthetic, replacing the powers you never had."   
"I'm not sure if... If I want that..." How could I be sure? what if I would turn into a monster, not being able to control my powers.  
"Aphrodite?" She looked at me, nervously biting her nails.  
"Hmmm?"  
"What if... What if I.... What if I hurt someone? Someone I love" she was really quite beautiful.  
"You will learn to control your powers" Her voice was reassuring, I coudn't help but believe her.  
"So... I'll be the strongest mortal to ever have lived?" It was probably the scariest thought that had ever crossed my mind.  
"Yes"  
"I don't think I want that" Aphrodite looked at me with sorrow and pity in her eyes.  
"I'm sorry Tara" Then she hit me in the temple and I went out.

*Time-skippy-buisness*  
____________________________________________________________________________________  
"She's waking up!" A rough, hoarse voice announced, just as I opened my eyes.  
I was sitting on a chair. As I felt a pounding in my head and reached up to massage my temple, I realised I couldn't.   
"Why am I tied to a chair?" Still blinking the blurryness of sleep away, I wasn't really surprised to hear that my voice was groggy.   
"Now that she's awake-" I did not like the glimpse in Apollos eyes.  
"Let the fun begin" He smacked his hands together and walked over to my chair. He was pretty good-looking. But he had too much confidence, like, an entirely distorted image of himself.  
"Hey there T" The nickname made me frown. He got like really close to me.   
"Woaw!" I tried to move away from him. But apparently, chairs can't fly... Pfft.  
"What is he gonna do?" I tried to look past the sun-god, but he was sorta blocking my view.  
"I'm gonna bless you of course!" His ear-to-ear smile was maybe the reason people would go blind from looking up at the sun for too long.  
"NO!" I was NOT gonna take this! Trying to move away with all my power got me nowhere.  
"Did you bolt this thing to the floor!?" I looked up at the gods, well knowing that my frustration was probably getting the best of me. I started screaming and shouting, and whimpering and pleading.  
"I'm not gonna hurt you!" Apollos smile was still not very reassuring.   
"GUUUUUUUUUH!!!!! GNHGH! GAH!" One step closer and I was gonna bite him. Really. Not even kidding.  
"Shhhhhhh shhh-OW!" Apollo turned to look at the other gods.  
"She bit me!" I Growled. A deep, threatening gutteral sound I had only made a few times before.  
"Tara" Aphrodite crouched down beside me, and began stroking my hair.  
"It's okay, it's for the best, the world needs you" Her words got straight to me.  
"Needs me?" I was feeling light-headed. And the goddess of love was just what I needed, her words keeping me in reality, keeping me human.  
A thumb was placed on my forehead, another at the center of my collarbone.  
"Be blessed with the sun" I felt a rush of heat, and power course through my body.  
Unable to speak I just looked up at him. He had done something to me. Something I didn't want done. And I hated him for it. But he didn't look at me. He just walked away.  
"I would rather kill you but..." The war god stepped closer to me. Placing his thumbs the way Apollo had. Ares didn't seem more sorry than Apollo. As I tried to jerk my head away from his hands, Aphrodite started doing her magic again. She pet my hair, told me not to worry. And for a second, I didn't. Not at all. I got through Ares', Hephaestus', Zeus', Poseidons and Hermes' blessings before Aphrodite stopped talking. I looked at her, feeling light-headed and fuzzy. She was trying, fighting to hold back tears. As Artemis moved forward I realised that Aphrodite had been telling me the truth. The world did need me. And she was crying. Not because she felt bad for me, but because she wanted me to be good. And I wasn't.  
"I'm sorry Silena I Jus..." She stopped herself mid-sentence. Her eyes wide as she realised what she had just said, and rushed out.  
"Who is Silena?" My interest was sincere but Artemis looked suspicious.  
"Silena was a hero" Ares said as he stormed off after his lover. I noticed the past tense. Silena was a hero.  
"Bless me" I don't know what happened. But Artemis just raised her eyebrows and did as requested.  
Once Demeter, Athena, Hades, Hecate, Iris and Hestia had all blessed me, Aphrodite came strolling back. Widely smiling and with Ares walking behind her, like a happy dog with a foolish grin on his face.  
"Time for my blessing!" She said it like it was christmas and her gift was the best gift ever!  
I doubt it.  
Her thumbs quickly fell in place.  
"Be blessed with love" All of a sudden I felt like crying and laughing and eating ice-cream.  
"Algea" Hera gestured towards me, and three skinny, pale and absolutely miserable-looking gods came trudging towards me. The best way to describe them would be: Emo. All the way through. A dingy aura of sadness and pain and grogg was all around them.  
"Alright" One of them sighed and flipped his emo-hair away from his eyes so he could cast his eyes upon a world that was obviously nothing but miserable.  
"Let's get this over with" The lined up in a triangle around me (A/N Illuminati!)  
"Be blessed with Pain" A shriek escaped my lips as something that felt an acid-shower went through me.  
"With grief" Their monotone unanimous words had barely reached me before I felt all the grief in the world. My heart was being clawed out my chest and I was left with a big hole.  
"With sadness" I almost started crying from the world. pictures of dying loved ones, lonely people, pure misery ran through my head.  
"With ache" I was senseless. I had an idea of a body, far away. A body in pain. But I didn't want it. I didn't want life.  
"With trouble" My reality was red. All I was able to see was blood, disgust, hate, evil, pain.  
"With anguish" I clenched onto the pain. It kept me alive, it had always kept me alive. Alive and human.   
"We need pain" I muttered it out under my breath. Twitching in the chair to get rid of it.   
"With distress"   
And it was over. They stepped away. I could breathe.  
I smiled. Just because I could. Just because the pain was now bearable.  
I felt two cold thumbs on my body but I didn't care anymore.  
"Be blessed with family"  
I was removed from the chair. At some point I was shown a movie. Or well it was like a movie, It started with a guy named Percy. He defeated a titan. Then he got the girl (YAY) Then there was a guy named Jason who didn't have any memory. Then Percy didn't have any memory. Then everybody got their memory back and set off to defeat mother earth. Then Percy and Annabeth (His girlfriend) Fell into hell for each other (Awwwwwwww) and then there were some lost demi-gods on a flying ship.  
Yup. Pretty much sums it up :)  
"Tara?" Iris was smiling slightly at my overwhelmedness. (that IS a word!)  
"You know" Iris looked at me with eyes that kept changing colours.   
"We choose if we're happy"   
I was just about to say something pure genius like: "Oh! Uh....."  
When Hera interrupted me.  
"You know Tara" Her smile seemed warm and welcoming, but I knew she could turn around and go all Screwdriver-god-giant-smash on me any moment...  
"Yes?" I crossed my arms. I had to resist the urge to jump on Iris' back and scream "DON'T LEAVE ME ALONE WITH IIIIIIIIIIIIT!!!!" when she started to walk of, happily humming.  
(Of course I didn't do that!)  
"You have a fatal flaw like every other hero" Hera didn't seem angry or suspicious or anything.  
"Even god has them" She sighed and looked at her husband, who was openly staring at Aphrodite.   
"My fatal flaw is my strenght" She smiled at my very (not)-intelligent expression.  
"Family"  
I realised the agony she was in.  
"You can't stop loving him can you?" And there it was. Aeons of love never being returned.  
"You know... No one can make you feel inferior without your consent" Hera looked at me. With eyes so full of sorrow I could feel it.   
No, I could actually feel it. The blessing from the Algae!  
Digging a little in the pain I could feel coming from Hera, I all of a sudden felt a wall break down. And her suppressed thoughts came to my mind.  
WHY WON'T HE LOVE ME LIKE I LOVE HIM!? The heartache almost got me on my knees.  
WHY CAN'T HE SEE THAT I CARE FOR HIM!?!?! I felt like screaming out the agony inside.  
But somehow, I could bear it. The unbearable pain was mine to carry.  
Zeus shared a look with his wife. She nodded. He nodded. Then he walked over.  
"You done talking?" I couldn't speak. I could hardly breathe. Then he looked at her.   
They stared at each other for a long time. And the burning in my chest eased. Zeus is an idiot, he has cheated, and been bad to her. But he has been with her forever, and though he might not be head-over-heels for her like she is for him. He still loves her.  
"Well then" Zeus was still staring at his beautiful wife, but now, his hands were on each side of my head.  
"Are you gonna electrocute me?" I know I should have let them stare and all, but I just, I mean, come on! The god of lightning holding his hands like that!  
Zeus started glowing. This had been quite the eventful day. Even though I have nothing to compare it with. Sure sure, I can tell you details about my flower-wallpaper at home, but I don't know if gods teleporting you was part of the everyday roll. It probably was.  
"You will probably feel uneasy while flying-" His monotone voice sounded like a steward telling you to fasten your seatbelt and make sure your table is stowed or something.  
"I can't guarantee that you will land on the ship so be prepared to fall about a mile" He said this like he hadn't just casually mentioned "Oh! And besides expecting YOU to save the world, I might not be able to get you to the ship so you might die"  
"Um.... Can't you make sure that I..." And then I turned to smoke...  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N Sorry about crappy chapter, I know everybody might seem a little OOC but I just think the gods come off as very one-sided in Uncle Ricks books.
> 
> Story WILL get better (If you are patient enough to hang on!)
> 
> Please comment and review and all that good stuff! :3
> 
> xxx NERD


	2. Leo

Chapter II  
Leo

It was about noon, two days after we had lost Percy and Annabeth. Two days after I had lost them.  
Right now, we all seemed like normal teenagers, despite from the fact that we were on a flying warship. Well... You can't have it all can you?  
Nico was in the crows nest, trying to get a glimpse of what adorable monsters would try to eat us next. And Hazel was sacrificing her breakfast, to whatever we were flying above right now. Frank was handing all my beloved Wii controls over. (Frank, Jason and Piper had just ended their watch) And Jason and Piper were just standing next to the ship-pole, FLIRTING! Outrageous...   
"What the!?" Nico's voice trailed off as something dragged him from the crows nest, down along the ships-pole, and straight onto Jason and Piper.  
"OW!"   
"What's up with that?!"  
"Nico get off me!" Pipers charmspeak caused Nico to crab six feet away from the pile of entangled legs. Leo couldn't count how many there was.  
Piper screamed.   
Frank ran over to get Jason un-entertwined (That IS a word!) from a fourth body.  
"It's probably a wind nymph!" Hazel was the only one being able to wrap her head around the situation. And it made sense, There had been a lot of wind nymphs bothering us lately.   
"It could be dangerous!" Wow Frank... We hadn't guessed!   
Everybody had formed a circle around the wind nymph. Weapons drawn and guard up.  
When I walked over to join the circle (Having pulled a hammer from my tool-belt as the only weapon nearby) I saw a pathetic being in the middle.  
A girl, probably sixteen. Red-brown hair, down to the middle of her back. Bright yellow worn-out jeans. And a black tank top with burn holes in it. Furthermore her complexion was green. Not in a nymph way, more like she was sick to her stomach. She was sprawled weakly on her knees, leaning against the ship-pole and holding tight onto one of the ropes for support.  
"It doesn't look angry" Hazel (Being the good person she was) let her guard down a little.  
"It can still attack!" Frank (Being the overprotective guy he was) positioned himself a little more in front of Hazel to be able to protect her better.  
"I prefer to be referred to as 'Her' rather than 'It' please" The girl in the middle had fought herself to a standing position.  
"And now if you would please exscu- MMHHPF" she made a gagging sound, and no one tried to stop her when she ran to the rail.  
The sounds were disgusting.  
When she had emptied her stomach, she came strolling back, obviously trying to preserve her dignity. She failed. When she turned to Nico and put a hand on his shoulder, he looked at like he was trying to guess her weight.  
"Sorry Di Angelo, I just grabbed whatever was near to avoid falling. I didn't mean to drag you with me" She shrugged. Nico just looked at her.  
"How do you know my name?" He placed a hand on his hip and looked at her expectantly.  
"Long story short:"She took in a deep breath, and started speed-talking  
"I think I lived in Denmark, but I ran away when I was fifteen and lived on the streets of New York. And then Hera put me..... Somewhere? for six months, and then all the gods blessed me, Which means I'm basically a mix of 17 different demigods, and then Zeus zapped me here"  
"Uhhh...? Well, um... I.. uh I think?...." Annabeth would've known what to do.  
"What's your name?" Good thinking Jason, let's start with her name...  
"I'm Tara"  
"Well I'm-"  
"Cut it Valdez! I know all your names" She stopped me with her hand.  
"Just trying to be polite" I mumbled out under my breath. She heard it though.  
"Just trying to get me on Team Leo more likely." How could she just come waltzing onto my ship and huff that way about team Leo?  
"How do you know about team Leo?" Hazel couldn't keep a smile from her lips thinking about 'Leo Valdez Bad-boy supreme'  
"Oh I know a lot of things Levesque" There was a sad tone in the girls- in Tara's voice.  
 "Let's try to be logical for a moment here" Jason's praetor-side came up and he got a dangerous glimpse in his eyes.  
"Are you a mortal?" The thought of asking Tara whether she was a mortal hadn't occured to me. Good thinking Jason! *mentally patting Jasons shoulder*  
"Yes" She wasn't looking like she was gonna hurt us. And I couldn't help but lower my hammer a little.  
"So you're not a demi-god?" I could follow Pipers thoughts, how did she get here if she was just a mortal?  
"Nope" She popped the "P" slightly, and her natural and relaxed smile just made me wanna hug her.  
"You said, And I quote: "I think I lived in Denmark" How can you not be sure?" Frank apparently had a good eye for details, because I didn't notice that. Pfft.  
"Hera messed with my memory"  
"That makes us two"  
I don't know what reaction Jason had expected, probably not the one he was getting,'.  
"I know Sparky!" She looked at him like he was trying to explain to that 2+2=4, even though she was way smarter than  him.  
"Are you gonna kill us?" I know it was stupid, and if she was gonna kill us, she probably wouldn't say so, but it was relevant!  
"Well" She started, a teasing smile on her face:  
"It's not the reason i came here, but I may kill you" Okay so it was a stupid question.  BIG DEAL!  
As if she had read my mind she said:  
"There are no stupid questions Valdez! Just stupid people"  
"Well why are you here?" Frank interrupted me before before I got a chance to say something witty back to her.  
"The gods sent me" She said ever-so-casually.  
"Why?" Tara just looked at Piper with an interested glare.  
"Percy and Annabeth fell into Tartarus right?" Everybody stared at the stranger who had just dumped onto half the crew on the ship  
"How did you..." Pipers voice trailed off.  
"Hera thought you could use some help. She said that: "This was all part of her great plan to save the world" or something... I guess"  
"And you're on Heras side?" Jason apparently couldn't help but ask. Which I understood because if that was the matter then-  
"NO! Heavens NO! I'm definitely NOT on Heras side! There's no way in Hades I would..."   
"I think I like you" Piper broke her off. If Tara was against Hera, she couldn't be that bad.  
"But what about the "Mix of 17 different demigods"-thing?" I asked. Probably saying what everyone was thinking.  
"Good question Leo" Hazel nodded approvingly at me. *Mental shoulder-clap*  
"Now answer it" Piper came off sounding a little more rough that what she probably intended.  
Tara laughed, nothing crazy or diabolical. Just sweet and sincere.  
"No need to charmspeak me McLean, I'll give you guys all the answers I have." She stretched in a very cat-like manner.  
"When a god blesses you, you basically get the powers of their strongest children" She looked around at each of the demigods.  
"And who blessed you?" Jason's voice was a lot quieter now. Now that he knew that this girl could probably kill us all...  
"All the olympians, Hecate, Iris and the Algea" She looked thoughtful for a moment. Her "I'm-thinking-face" Was her pouting her lips and a distant look in her blue eyes.  
"Yup those" Everything went quiet.  
"So you can fly?" Jasons voice croacked.  
"Well I" She did a gesture towards the sky-  
"I don't know? I guess?" She looked at her feet and I could actually Feel the awkward  
"It's like, an hour ago it all happened, I haven't exactly had time to experiment" She said it like we were blaming her and it was an excuse.  
"I guess theres only one way to find out right?" I could feel the elfish grin on my face.  
"Leo you're not gonna?" Hazel looked at Tara with pity.  
"What if she can't-" I cut off Frank with a motion of my hand.  
"I'll be gentle" As the other ran down the stairs and to safety-distance from my fire, I turned towards Tara.  
I was in no way planning on being gentle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was kind of awkward..
> 
> How do you like it so far? Please review!!!
> 
> xxxNERD


	3. Jason

"So what do you think of this?" Piper was the one who brought me out from my thoughts by taking my hand. I looked into her eyes for a second, and I counted at least four different colours. Schist! What was the question again?  
"Uhhh...."  
I tried.  
Piper just laughed her amazing laugh, and pecked me on the cheek.  
"What. Do. You. Think. Of. This?" She had cut off the way to my room by standing in front of me.  
*Explosion*  
*girly scream*  
"I think Leo's finally getting his butt kicked" I took Pipers hand, ignored the shaking of her head, and went back to eavesdrop on Leo and Tara.  
I got the door smacked in my head. Hard.  
Leo came marching in, arms crossed, furrowed eyebrow(s). (Seeing as he only had 1 1/2)  
And Tara came strolling after him. A big smile on her face.  
"I guess" Leo hissed between his teeth.  
"That we can conclude" He looked angrily at Tara.  
"That you can fly! And shoot fireballs. And call lightning." Tara just smiled.  
Piper grinned and high-fived her.   
"Well it's about lunch-time!" I got Leo so easily distracted.  
"And we're having hot-wings" He bit the bait.  
"Hot-stuuuuuuuuuuuuf!!!" Tara just stared at the hispanic running down the hall.  
"Is he always like that?" Piper just sighed and nodded.  
"Well I don't remember ever being this hungry before!" I looked at her. I've been through amnesia, and it sucks. But she just seems to want to make the best of the situation. You have to admire her for that!  
"GUYS!" Leo's head was sticking out from the door to the mess hall.  
"If you don't hurry I'll eat all the hot-stuff for the chicken wings!" I started sprinting towards him:  
"Oh no you don't!" Piper shook her head and said something to Tara.   
In all honesty I didn't have time for details like my girlfriend, when the hot-stuff was on display! (Okay... That didn't sound douchy at all!)  
***Time-skippy-buisness***  
"I don't remember ever being this full!" Hazel stretched her arms over her head.  
"No Levesque" Tara pointed at Hazel with a half-eaten chicken wing.  
"I don't remember ever being this full" She dumped the chicken wing onto her plate like a boss. Frank had the decency to laughy-grunt at her joke. Nobody else found it funny.   
*explosion* *crash* *monster roaring*  
"Monster attack!" Frank jumped up, grabbed his bow, and ran out. He was faster than anyone else, seeing as Hazel was so full she could hardly stand. I ran after Frank, Leo close behind me.  
When we made it to the upper deck, there were tiny rocks everywhere. Like the rocks in grandma's driveway, only they were knee-high.  
Frank was crouching on Leo's "Supreme-captain-commander-chair" Pointing his bow around, twisting and swirling it all the time, as the roars seemed to be coming from everywhere.  
"FRANK!" I got lucky that no monsters were roaring when I called out. I got Franks attetion and kept yelling:  
"Numina Montanum! They're probably on Gaia's side!" Frank nodded and kept aiming everywhere.   
"JASON!" A voice drowned out the constant roaring of mountain spirits, and rolling of huge stones.  
"WHAT ARE THOSE?" she pointed out into the mist.  
I fought my way through grandma's driveway and over to Tara.  
"Numina Montanum, or Ourae in greek!" She looked at me with her arms crossed.  
"Not helping!" Oh yeah, she's neither roman nor greek...  
"Mountain spirits! BAD NEWS!" She nodded and tried to walk, but ended up giving a frustrated sigh. Then she flew. Why hadn't I thought of that?  
Trying not to get killed, I soared over the rocks. My eye caught something, just behind Festos at the very front off the deck. It was like seeing water well up from a clogged-up drain. Except it was tiny rocks that were welling up.  
"What the-" Piper cursed and Hazel didn't even slap her... Weird...  
"I think I found the source!" I was lucky she heard me. Piper and Hazel started fighting their way to me.   
"We couldn't hear what you said" Piper supported herself on her knees and huffed.  
"But since we got all the way over here-" She looked me straight in the eye.  
"It better be important!"  
I pointed to the source of the rock-attack. The tiny stones were now halfway up my thigh. Dam it (A/N Hehe). Piper looked disgusted and intriugued at the same time.  
"What is that?"   
"It looks like a foul drain" Hazel was mirroring Pipers expression.  
"Well I guess since it's the source of all this-" I gestured towards the ship.  
"We might wanna do something about it" It was at that point, somebody decided that we didn't have enough trouble already, and started throwing huge round boulders at us.   
Well thank you.  
"STOP THAT" Pipers charmspeak made me wanna lay down and never do anything for the rest of my life.  
Piper looked questioningly at me with her arms crossed.  
"Stop looking at me like that!" Why was I the one to dive into hip-high grandma-driveway rocks to do something about some sort of Something.  
"Pleeeeeeaaaaaaase?" Damn that woman. Diving into the rocks I realised:  
You can't swim in rocks!  
But you can't drown either, which is good I guess.  
After like, ten minutes, I reached... Something...  The rocks welling up from... It... Were wet and slimy, there was a smell of vinegar. Suddenly it closed. It's.... Mouth?   
Okay, there was some sort of monster on our ship throwing up rocks...   
Neat.  
Grabbing the little creature by it's head I stood up again. Haha, it sounds so easy doesn't it? Well it wasn't! 'Cause when I grabbed it, it of course started throwing (up) more rocks at me. And a monsters' stomach-acid does not smell nice! I'm actually pretty sure it cauterized my "Camp Jupiter" shirt.   
When I had gotten up, with the little thing, I got an opportunity to take a closer look.  
It was as tall as my lower arm, built sort-a like a piranha (With legs though) and it was grey-blue. The inspection didn't last long though, because Piper took the thing, and threw it overboard. I could hear it screeching until it hit something.  
"There" Piper clapped her hands clean.  
"Done"  
Sometimes she amazes me, with her willpower, and "I'm-gonna-do-stuff"-ness. (That IS a word!)  
"GUYS!" Leo's voice broke my Piper-tration. (concentration, but with Piper *wink*)  
"We're dropping!" All the extra weight form the stones.  
"Hazel! Is there any kind of metal in these rocks?" Hazel closed her golden eyes in focus for a moment.  
"A little iron, why?"   
"See if you can move the rocks by willing the metal" I turned to piper.  
"Grab a bucket and get as may off the ship as possible" She nodded.  
Hazel was able to take out about two bucketfuls at a time, but Piper worked fast.  
Standing as far away from the others as I could, i started to make a hurricane, about the size of me. When it was full, It took all my power to throw it overboard.  
"Guys!!!" Leo stood in the entrance, nervously jumping up and down.  
"We're still falling! We need more hands!!!" And as if on cue, Tara came flying down.  
"That mountain spirit-" Blood was running down her arm from a wound she was pressing her hand onto.  
"Is not a happy mountain spirit" She leaned against the mast, trying to catch her breath.  
Again, Piper was the one with the initiative.  
"Frank!" The archer spun his head so quickly it would have broken my neck.  
"Get some nectar and ambrosia!" Frank's eyes darted to Hazel, just to check that it wasn't her he would be fetching it for. Then he turned into a cat and walked on top of the rocks, over to the entrance. Getting the door up was a problem. Frank changed back into human, and then he began moving the rocks and by the pushing, pulling and removing of stones, the door opened and Nico came tumbling out.  
Frank didn't waste a moment to push past the stunned son of hades.  
Nico didn't waste much time either. He disappeared into the shadows.  
"What was that!?" Piper exclaimed, pointing to the place where Nico had just disappeared.   
"Who does he think he is? Running around disa-" Piper got broken off by Nico, materialising right next to her.  
"Oh" Piper looked only slightly embarrassed.  
"Hi Nico..." Nico just looked amused at her embarrassment.  
"Who's hurt?" Nico broke the silence, and Tara raised her hand. The moment she did that, a deep, horribly bleeding cut, was exposed.  
"Tara!" Piper yelled.  
"That's serious!" With those words, she ran over and started examining the wound.  
"Piper stop" Tara scooted away from her motherly care.  
"Just focus on the rocks" She gestured towards the entire ship.  
"Mainly at the door" She stood up tall and straight. But she was very pale. At that moment I realised she had large dark circles under her eyes, and she was skinny, really really skinny!  
"Grace get going!" I didn't even bother to see who was bossing me around, I just got started.  
When Frank returned with the nectar and ambrosia, Tara impatiently snatched it away from him, took a bite, had a sip, and started working.  
Her and Hazel were a good team, I didn't notice the way her hands were shaking. Or the fact that she was drenched with sweat. No. What really caught my attention, was Nico.  
He had opened the shadows on the deck, and looking right, a hundred feet or so, i could see a lump of shadow, throwing up rocks.  
"Guys we're flying again!" Leo wooed and did a weird victory-dance.   
"Guys?" Everybody were sprawled on the ground. A weird groan escaped Tara's lips:  
"Guuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh" Hazel looked at her and answered:  
"Dgneeeeeeeeeeh"   
"Well thank you for clearing that!" Leo smirked with his arms crossed.  
"But we still need to interrogate Tara" I felt sad for the girl. I remembered what it was like arriving at camp half-blood, nobody believing me, however, I guess I could see Leo's point. Getting up, rubbing my eyes and offering Piper a hand I said:  
"You can stay with Piper in her room until we know we can trust you" She didn't answer, or breathe.   
"Guys!" Hazel was kneeling next to Tara.  
"There's something wrong! She's not breathing!!!" Hazel didn't calm down before Tara gasped loudly about twenty seconds later. Her eyes still closed.  
"Guys give her some space!" Hazel held her arms in the air in a stop motion.  
"What is it?" Leo had lost the "Tough guy" attitude and actually sounded worried.  
"She's having a flashback" Nico stepped up next to me with his arms crossed and a poker-face as good as Reyna's.  
"Hazel used to have those too" Hazel nodded at Nico's statement.  
"It'll probably last about five to ten minutes" She took a sack laying around on the deck and placed it under Tara's head.  
"The best thing would be to question her about it when she wakes up" Hazel made a motion for all of us to sit down.  
"Might as well get comfortable" Piper smiled and closed her eyes as she snuggled into me.  
I couldn't help but smile and kiss her on top of her head.  
***Timey-wimey wobbley-bobbley***  
Tara blinked confused.   
"How are you?" There was a motherly tone in Hazel's voice. Tara tried to sit up, only to be pushed down by Hazel again.  
"Did you have a flashback?" Tara covered her face with her hands and pressed lightly on her eyes.   
She nodded and everybody were quiet.   
"I... I..." Her voice trailed of.  
"I was in a field" She uncovered her face and looked into the sky.  
"It was summer and about reaping time, my house was in the distance. I was listening to disney-music."  
She looked down herself.  
"I was thirteen. I was there with my father and brother. We were picking Wild-oat, and.. And... My brother and I were singing along to the disney songs. We were both really good singers"  
She looked around at all of us. I wanted to comfort her.  
The weird thing is though, she didn't look scared. She looked so strong, as though life had kicked her in the gut several times, and she had no intentions of letting it happen again.  
"Is there something practical I can do?" She sat up and was looking around again.  
"Or do you want to interrogate me first?" She said it with no anger or fear in her voice, rather a little mocking and amusement.  
"We can do that later" Hazel offered Tara a hand, but she stood up herself, smiling at Hazel.  
"Tara needs to rest, flashbacks can be pretty tough on you" Nico added.  
"I guess that settles it?" Piper looked questioningly around. Okay, I guess I need to go all "Praetor" on them now... Well here we go...  
"You can sleep in Annabeth's room" I said with my most leader-like voice:  
"I'm sorry but we'll have to post guards at the door" I really was sorry, and then... not...  
"Get some rest" Frank put his arm around his girlfriend.  
"I'll take the first watch" Everybody looked at Nico, he just kept on his poker-face.  
"Cool" Leo pulled his suspenders out from his body and let go of them again, causing them to smack against his chest.  
"I'll go fiddle with the engine" And Leo was off.  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N Hello lovely people!!!
> 
> I've edited the first chapters a little. It's not like the entire story is gonna change because of it, but maybe if you... I don't know... Have some spare time and have nothing better to do with your lives???
> 
> xxx NERD


	4. Leo

"I don't trust that girl! She comes dumping in, knows everything about everyone but nothing about herself? It's just weird... " I got a wrench from my toolbelt and started to fiddle with the engine.  
"If I raise the doohicky by a few millimeters-" Screwing said doohicky around, I reached for a metal-doopey to keep the doohicky raised. It worked as intended, but, I don't think it made the biggest difference.  
"What are you doing?" I said to myself as I sat down, head in my hands.   
"The machine is fine! You're just trying to avoid being in the "Happy couples zone""  
I stood up, determined to go 'be social'.... ugh...  
But being me, I walked into an oil-pipe. The pipe somehow broke, and oil was spilling everywhere. *Applause*   
After struggling for a few seconds, I managed to tie a rag from the tool belt around the leaking.   
Oil being very thick and all, it didn't flow through the rag. But I looked like I had just taken an oil-shower.  
"So much for being social" I sighed. Well...   
Walking up the stars from the machine-room, I saw Frank and Hazel sitting ouside the door to Annabeth's room. They were leaning against the door, smiling at each other.  
I actually don't think I envy Frank... Well, maybe a little, but I think, I envy them more.  
"Leo!?" Hazel practically gasped.  
"Don't stand up for me" I made a calming movement with my hands.  
"There was a broken pipe, but things are fine now, I fixed everything as always" I gave them my patented goofy grin.   
"Just don't do it again" Hazel's voice was firm all of a sudden.  
"Yeah Leo," Frank added.  
"You scared the schist out of us" Hazel took his hand and giggled. 

 

"I'll go shower" I pointed towards my room.  
"Remember to use water this time instead of oil!" Hazel's voice was friendly as she shouted at me.  
"What?" I asked playfully dumbfounded, with my head just barely out the door.  
"Just go shower already!" I saluted for a short second, before walking into my room for that shower.

***Time-skippy-buisness***

Going out the shower, I noticed how there was oil everywhere. The doorhandles and door frames were the worstly treated ones. Once I was dressed in clean clothes, I went out into the hall. Hands in my pockets I walked over to the door of the mess hall. There was a note on it, with our guard shifts. My turn in twenty minutes. My shift-team (That IS a word!) were piper and- Wait WHAT!? What did it say? Piper and Tara?!   
How long have I been in the shower?  
"VALDEZ!!!" Coach Hedge was screaming my name. I turned to the voice, his horned head was visible from the door to the deck.  
"Yes coach Hedge?" I made sure to talk properly, he freaks out when you mutter. Actually he freaks out when you don't mutter as well.... He's funny that way...  
"Your shift begins in ten minutes, and you need to teach the new kid!" Not... Cool...   
"Why do I have to teach the new kid? You're the gods damned coach!"  
"Valdez! I don't wanna discuss it! Deck now, or you'll be on cleaning duty for the next week!"   
Considering that you might die anytime, being a demigod and all, spending an entire week cleaning is quite a threat.  
So, with Coach's threat in mind, I started walking towards the deck.  
When I opened the door I was blinded for a second.   
Lifting a hand to shade my eyes from the sun, I stepped onto the deck. It was a sunny day, there were mountains in the close horizon (can you say that?) and the weather was just perfect.

"Well ladies" I took the wii-controller from Jason as I spoke.  
"Your captain is here and we'd better get going" I walked up to Festus while enjoying the wind on my face.  
"Hey Valdez?" Tara came walking up to me.  
"Coach Hedge said you'd find a work for me" Oh gods... How much can we trust her with? What is she capable  of? Would she ruin everything? Does she know how to tie a knot?   
"Maybe I could just keep the spirit up, and watch n' learn?" I nodded gratefully at her. She smiled back at me, understandingly.   
"You shouldn't trust me too much..." The wind was blowing her hair back, and she had a distant look on her face.  
"Don't worry, I won't" My voice was light and playful, my words true though. She gave me a small smile at that.  
"Leo?" Piper came to join us at the rail.  
"You're the captain, you set the course" I nodded, and walked up to the control panel, while humming the theme of 'Pirates Of The Carribean'  
Wher Piper just shrugged, Tara joined in on my humming.  
And so, we hummed together.


	5. Frank

When Hazel decided, to go out for a random stroll with her horse, I wanted to protest. But her tight grip on her  gladius, kept me from doing any such thing.  Leo and Piper were on deck-duty. The new girl was just walking around, bonding with Piper, singing and keeping the spirits up. I decide to do something useful, and take a nap. My next shift would be in three hours. As I walked into my room, I silently thanked Leo for putting personal bathrooms next to every room. Across the room from my desk, there was a door, leading to a bathroom with a shower, sink and toilet. It wasn't luxurious, but it was nice not having to share that.   
I quickly showered, and got dressed in new clothes. Sighing, I walked out of my bathroom, and nearly got a heart-attack. In my desk-chair, was the new girl. She was sitting with her back against me. Then she started to spin the chair.  
"Mr. Zhang... I've been expecting you" As she dramatically spinned towards me, somehow the chair kept spinning. And she wound up, facing my desk. She sighed, and started to tap her feet along the floor, in an attempt to spin the heavy chair back.  
Smiling, I crossed my arms.  
"Would you mind telling me, why you're in my room?" I asked.  
"They didn't need me on deck, so they said, that I could ask you to give me a tour of the ship?" I looked longingly at my bed for a second. So much for that nap.  
"Sure!" I then said.  
"This is my room-" I gestured to the room.  
"And that's my bathroom-" I pointed to the door.  
"Everyone has their own room, with an adjoining bathroom." She nodded.  
I walked out of my room, and started walking down the hall,  
"These are the sleeping quarters-" I pointed out everyones roms as we walked past them.  
 "And in here is the dining room-" I said as I opened the door.  
"There is a kitchen down there, and Leo made the walls, so that they portray the greek camp" I walked out of the kitchen, and pointed down a small spiral staircase.  
"Looks like a fire escape" Tara said, with her brows furrowed.  
"It's the engine room, I'll let Leo take that tour with you. I guess you also have the normal Hephaestus skills?" I looked questioningly at her, while leading her to the common-room.   
"Umm, I haven't exactly had a chance to tinker, in the last three hours, but.." Her face contracted.  
"Do they have to yell at each other all the time?" I looked at her, puzzled.  
"Who?" She massaged her temple and looked up at me;  
"Your dads! They're driving me nuts!" I listened. My dads' screaming was distant, and not very loud. But Tara looked like I had felt, since they started their fighting. Was this girl inside my head?  
"What are you doing?" I suspiciously asked. She took her hands up to cover her ears, and then shook her head.  
"I don't know" Her voice sounded pathetic. I tightly gripped her shoulders, forcing her to look me in the eyes.  
"Tara! What is happening?!" My voice was stern. She gripped her head one more time.  
"Who's having these nightmares?!" She sounded frustrated, she started to walk around, like a crazy person.   
She absentmindedly walked into a wall, then she curled together in fetal position, and then she was walking around again. Her eyes were flickering. She was shallowly looking at me. As if she saw something entirely else. She was hyperventilating. She didn't even see me anymore.  
Next thing I knew, she was sitting on the floor, hugging her knees, rocking back and forth.   
"Get me out of here" That's when I called for coach Hedge. And that's when Tara started screaming.   
Apparently her scream woke Nico (Who had been taking a nap in his room) up, and Jason came running from gods-know-where.   
Piper stuck her head in, from the deck above.  
"What's happening?!" I couldn't speak, I was just looking at the girl in front of me. Everybody were quiet, when Tara all of a sudden yelled:  
"SHUT UP!" Out of nowhere. Then she gripped her head again, and I thought she was crying.   
Then she looked up.  
Her eyes were wild and her breath was ragged. She looked around like a deer caught in the headlights. She stood up and dusted herself off.   
Nico walked over to her  
"Was it a flashback?" Tara looked confused and scared to death. She furrowed her brows and shook her head. then she nodded, then she shook it again,  
"It's- I-" Then she sighed.  
"The gods of pain and suffering blessed me. My guess is, that I'm supposed to carry your pain and burdens in stead of you" Nico looked absolutely horrified.  
"Did you... See anything? Hear anything?" She nodded, then shook her head.  
"It was more a feeling, like, I couldn't breathe, and I couldn't see, and, I was all alone" She looked up at me, her eyes questioning. I almost unnoticeably shook my head, thinking 'Don't tell them about my dads' as loud as I could. It seemed she got the hint.  
"Sorry I woke you, di Angelo" Nico shrugged it off. She looked around at everybody.  
"Soooo.. This is awkward?" Nobody knew what to say,   
Nico still looked completely horrified. But he managed to shake it of. Then he turned to me.  
"Where's Hazel?" I shifted uncormfortably.  
"She went out to meet Hecate at a crossroad" Nico stiffened.   
"Do you know how few demigods survive that?" I shifted uncomfortably again.  
"Hazel can take care of herself" Tara had stepped in between me an Nico.   
"Di Angelo, would you maybe show me how to do some shadow traveling?" Tara asked, completely changing the subject. Nico stared at her.  
"Can you do that?" She shrugged.  
"Worth a try, right?" And then they walked out.   
I leaned against the wall, and Piper looked at me with concern.   
"Get some sleep, Frank, I'll wake you up when Hazel comes back.  
I nodded and walked to my room. My dads voices were getting louder.  
Sleeping was not gonna be easy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is by far not the best one, sorry, but hang in there pls, I HAVE VISIONS WITH THIS FIC U CANNOT EVEN IMAGINE  
> xxx NERD


	6. Tara

Nico led me into the common room. There was a stairway to the stables/cargo, a couch and TV, and a pool table. OK.

Nico went to a bookshelf, and got out a book with a red cover, then he went to the pool-table, and opened the book somewhere in the middle. I walked over, trying to guess what the book was about.

"What book is that?" Nico took it from the pool-table, and looked at the title.

"Something about greek mythology" He then said and put it back down. I furrowed my brows.

"And what's it for?" He shrugged.

"It's a metaphor" I nodded, and stood opposite him, to watch him.

"Okay, Tara-" He pointed at the edge of the front cover.

"This is where you are-" He pointed at the edge of the back of the cover,

"This is where you're going-" He motioned to all of the book in between the two points.

"This, is what shadowtravelling does-" He closed the book, and pointed to the inch-and-a-half between the two points now.

"So, shadowtravelling is like, bending the universe?" He nodded, and then shrugged.

"I guess you could say that, anyways, many miles, can become a few steps, or, feel like a few steps. It's really not that complicated once you get the hang of it, but what is difficult once you get the hag of it, right?" I nodded.

"Okay, so how do I do?" He walked over to me.

"Okay, you're gonna need shadows-" He looked around, and then pointed to the corner of the room, the one next to the staircase. 

"That's the ideal spot-" We walked over there.

"Okay, just try to concentrate on drawing the shadows to you, while also concentrating on the point where you're going. May be try to go, like ten feet away" I looked at him.

"And what if I screw up and teleport myself out into the open air?" Nico looked at me.

"You're gonna have to screw up badly if you're gonna end up outside of the ship" He said it as though I wasn't the type of person to "screw up badly". Oh little did he know.

"Okay-" I mumbled under my breath

"Here goes, pretty much everything" And I started walking into the darker shadows.

I was pretty sure I saw the shadows contracting and getting darker for a second, and then I walked into the wall.

All concentration went out the window, as I started rubbing my forehead. 

"Is that supposed to happen?" I asked Nico, turning around to face him. He was smiling, trying not to laugh. 

"No, no that's not supposed to happen, Tara. You'll get it, try again" I groaned, but walked a bit away again.

Concentrating all that I could, I focused on the shadows, and on gathering them. The corner got a few shades darker.

With determination, I thought about the spot a few feet away, and started walking towards the shadows. When I got close, I felt a strange pull in my stomach, kinda like a rush. Then I walked into the wall again.

"Goddammit Nico!" I shouted. He was snickering behind me.

"I'm not gonna learn it, that's it, I will be a failure and I won't save the world. You'll all just have to die, sorry for being a disappointment!" I let myself drop to the couch. #Positivity. Nico huffed behind me. 

"Tara, you've tried twice. And you weren't even born with these powers! You just have to give it a little more effort I guess" I got up from the couch, and looked at the corner with hatred in my eyes.

This time, I spend a few minutes, trying to gather the shadows. Concentrating on intensifying them, trying to get a shadow portal up-and-running. The shadows gathered again, but I could still see the wall behind them. Little beads of sweat started to gather at my forehead. 

I focused so hard on the shadows, that I started getting dizzy. Swaying broke my concentration, and I took a hand up to my head, and steadied myself against the wall. Looking over at Nico, I got an approving look.

With a confident feeling, I focused on the shadows again. This time, I felt them more. And I could see, that they felt me. I powerwalked towards the corner, and this time, I hit the wall behind the shadows with confidence. 

Applause for trying Tara. 

"Okay, maybe that's enough for today" Nico mused, as he pulled me up from the floor.

"How long did it take you to get it?" Nico made a thoughtful pout.

"Hmm, after I found out I had powers? About.. two, maybe three, days?"

I huffed.

"And you were born with these powers, I don't have some deeply manifested connection with the shadows"

Nico patted my shoulder.

"You'll get it. We'll try again tomorrow" He made a low hissing sound and pointed at my forehead. 

"You might wanna get some ice on that. Or, well, at least try not to walk into any more walls today okay?" He sent me a playful grin, and I retaliated with a sarcastic grimace. 

"Thanks for that wonderful advice Di Angelo, I was actually planning on that, but now that you mention it, I probably shouldn't"

He gave me a look, and then shook his head.

"Umm, is there a room where I could sleep?" 

Nico looked very thoughtful for a while, then he nodded. 

"I suppose you could use Annabeth's room while she's.." His voice trailed off, and I felt something pull at my chest.

"Okay, umm, where is it?" Nico puled himself out of his thoughts, and motioned for me to follow him. We went back through the hallway, to one of the two rooms closest to deck. He opened the door for me, and stayed outside while I walked in.

"I'll leave you to it" He looked at the ground as he closed the door, and I could hear the door in the next room over open and shut.

I sighed, as I dropped down on the bed. It had grey bedsheets, and the room smelled like tea. The walls were a comfortable blue-gray color, that reminded me of a mix between clouds and water. The desk was filled with drawing-equipment. Rulers, pencils, a few calculators, that kind of stuff. It hadn't been ten minutes before I was asleep.

 

***

 

I woke up with a start.

"Just a dream" I told myself, as I wrapped my arms around my body, trying to provide some comfort. Something wasn't right. What did I dream? My arms fell weak to my side, as I squinted my eyes, trying to remember. Red, I decided. There was a lot of red. Also, I sniffed, smelling nothing in particular. Sulfer, in the dream. Those two fit well together, I guess. 

I stood up, and went to the bathroom. I had slept with my combat-boots on, and my feet hurt. After having washed my hands, I went out of the bathroom, sat in the desk-chair, and took of my shoes. It felt like the first time in forever.

I hardly noticed the state my feet were in, before I sat them down on the floor and winced. Pulling the sock off my right foot, I stared in shock. There were blisters pretty much everywhere, and scars from more, and some that were half healed.

Ow.

It was the same on the other foot, and I went into the bathroom, to angrily throw out the shoes, when I tripped over something. 

I was just about to yell at it to leave me alone, when I realized it hadn't been there before. 

Hmm.

It was a suitcase. A white and pink checkered suitcase, just big enough to pass for a carry-on, and with a hard shine finish. 

I decided to open it, just in case it was something for me.

Hahah. Just in case. Ha. 

Anyway, I opened it, and it was empty. I unzipped the small section in the lid, and a note fell out.

This suitcase can retreat any item of yours, you just have to remember it first. 

xoxo Aprodite <3

And yes, she did actually leave a heart. 

Ina-pro-pro.

I looked at my holed tank top, and my ruined boots, and decided to give it a try. I focused on the flashback I had earlier on the deck. The one where I was walking in the field. I was wearing.. What was I wearing? 

Oh, that's right, Nike shoes and a t-shirt and cycling shorts. I closed the suitcase, and placed my hands on top of it, I'm new to this hole magic thing, but it felt like that's what you were supposed to do. 

I imagined that exact outfit, and tried to think as loudly as possible. 

Is that a thing? Thinking loudly?

I opened the suitcase, and there it was.

"Oh thank the gods!" I exclaimed, taking the clothes and jumping to my feet, quickly pulling it on. It was way too big, especially the shorts.

"Oh well" I said, inspecting myself in the mirror. 

"Hopefully i can put on some weight soon" My collarbones were very visible, and I had a thigh gap a bit too big for my liking.

I shrugged it off, my body isn't going to change from looking in the mirror. I walked to the door, and when I opened it, Leo was standing right outside, his hand lifted as if to knock on the door. We both got a shock.

"Oh, uhh, hi Tara" He had taken a couple of steps backwards.

"Valdez?" It wasn't as much a question, as it was a statement with an asking sound to it.. Did that make sense?

"Yeah, I guarded the door while you slept, and umm, I heard you stirring and, uhh" I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Frank mentioned that he didn't show you the machine room?" I could practically feel my eyes light up.

"Right! I didn't, would you give me the tour?" He bowed in a knight-like manner, and then motioned for me to follow him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello lovelies :3  
> I basically borrowed the concept of shadowtravelling from a Stephen King story "The Jaunt" (dont even go there kids it's horrifying)  
> The amazing concept of slipping still belongs to the amazing Boombashkas (wrote the revolutionary fic "Operation blue bananas)  
> so u should definitely check them out bc they're amazing
> 
> xxx NERD


	7. Leo

It felt kinda weird having someone else in the machine room. Like she was invading my privat place. Not that I had my underwear lying around or anything, but I had talked to myself and the machines about pretty much anyone, or anything.

I knew the machines weren't gonna gossip, they were way too nice to do that. But it still felt like she was looking straight through me.

"So, do you have, like, a main control board or something?" She asked hesitantly, breaking the silence.

"Uhm, yes, right here" I said, pointing to the control board at the right of the entrance. She walked over, and let her fingers glide over it, lightly touching some of the buttons, reading all the abbreviations I had written underneath.

"What does W/H mean?" She asked, looking up at me with big eyes, somehow seeming calmer than she had all day.

"Umm, it's water-heat? I didn't want the general heat of the ship to be combined with the heat of the water in case something went wrong" I scratched the back of my head, thinking she was gonna judge me or something. She just nodded, and started walking towards the engine of the ship.

"That's not stupid, Valdez" I followed her, cringing inside whenever she touched something. Not that I was scared she was gonna break anything, but no one had touched my ship since we were back at Camp, and back then, it had been my siblings.

"Can you explain to me, really simply how the engine works?" She was leaning on the rail, looking at the six feet we had below us. 

"Okay, so there's the fuel, here it's some magical kind of reusable gas they had at bunker nine" I pointed to the huge moving steel rod.

"And the gas is constantly heated in the little chamber, to the point of explosion, which pushes the big cylinder down, and when it gets pushed down, it pushes a bunch of other things, and it creates enough kinetic energy to keep us flying"

She nodded impressed.

"Actually, we're flying on about 60 percent engine and 40 percent magic" She nodded and let out a small laugh.

"Something funny to you, Tara?" I asked, not completely able to keep the accusation out of my voice.

She smiled at me in a way that made me very uneasy.

"Magic."

I nodded.

"Still getting used to it?" She shook her head.

"No, I don't really remember anything else, it's just" She leaned backwards, still holding on to the rail.

"I can't explain it, it's just like something suddenly makes sense? Like this answers a bunch of questions I never even asked" I wasn't really sure I actually understood, but I nodded.

"Maybe you were always meant to be here. In this world, I mean" She squinted her eyes.

"Yeah, you know what, I think I was. This feels like the right thing!"

She smiled at me, in a way that seemed so happy and innocent.

It felt kinda weird having someone else in the machine room. Like she was invading my privat place. Not that I had my underwear lying around or anything, but I had talked to myself and the machines about pretty much anyone, or anything.

I knew the machines weren't gonna gossip, they were way too nice to do that. But it still felt like she was looking straight through me.

"So, do you have, like, a main control board or something?" She asked hesitantly, breaking the silence.

"Uhm, yes, right here" I said, pointing to the control board at the right of the entrance. She walked over, and let her fingers glide over it, lightly touching some of the buttons, reading all the abbreviations I had written underneath.

"What does W/H mean?" She asked, looking up at me with big eyes, somehow seeming calmer than she had all day.

"Umm, it's water-heat? I didn't want the general heat of the ship to be combined with the heat of the water in case something went wrong" I scratched the back of my head, thinking she was gonna judge me or something. She just nodded, and started walking towards the engine of the ship.

"That's not stupid, Valdez" I followed her, cringing on the inside whenever she touched something. Not that I was scared she was gonna break anything, but no one had touched my ship since we were back at Camp, and back then, it had been my siblings.

"Can you explain to me, really simply how the engine works?" She was leaning on the rail, looking at the six feet we had below us. 

"Okay, so there's the fuel, here it's some magical kind of reusable gas they had at bunker nine" I pointed to the huge moving steel rod.

"And the gas is constantly heated in the little chamber, to the point of explosion, which pushes the big cylinder down, and when it gets pushed down, it pushes a bunch of other things, and it creates enough kinetic energy to keep us flying"

She nodded impressed.

"Actually, we're flying on about 60 percent engine and 40 percent magic" She nodded and let out a small laugh.

"Something funny to you, Tara?" I asked, not completely able to keep the accusation out of my voice.

She smiled at me in a way that made me very uneasy.

"Magic."

I nodded.

"Still getting used to it?" She shook her head.

"No, I don't really remember anything else, it's just" She leaned backwards, still holding on to the rail.

"I can't explain it, it's just like something suddenly makes sense? Like this answers a bunch of questions I never even asked" I wasn't really sure I actually understood, but I nodded.

"Maybe you were always meant to be here. In this world, I mean" She squinted her eyes.

"Yeah, you know what, I think I was. This feels like the right thing!"

She smiled at me, in a way that seemed so happy and innocent. 

We looked at each other in silence for a few seconds, and then I caught a glimpse of the watch that hung on the wall behind her head.

"Oh shoot, it's getting late and we have the first guard shift tomorrow!" She looked up at the watch.

"I've taken two naps today, I wouldn't mind watching a good movie right now" I looked at her, with a calculating stare.

"The only rooms with any kind of movie-watching devices are my room and the common-room"

"Would you watch a movie with me?" She looked surprised and hopeful.

"Sure! How do you feel about star-wars? It's been a while since I watched the triology" She furrowed her brows, and looked deep in thought.

"I.. Star Wars" She looked down, and pouted her lips, while squinting her eyes

"Star wars!" She looked up, and her eyes were bright with remembrance.

"I remember a face from star wars! I remember Han!"

It was almost too god to be true, that Star Wars was the treatment that would help Tara, but hey, if that's it, I'll gladly be a good shipmate and watch them all with her.

"Maybe seeing the movies will trigger your memory in some way?" She looked doubtful.

"It's worth a try!" And she ran up the stairs with a lot more energy than she should have, considering it was elevenPM.

"I'll make some popcorn, just go to the common room" She stood still for a moment, but then seemed to remember where the common-room was.

I walked into the kitchen, and took two packs of microwave popcorn, and brought them, along with the microwave, into the common-room. When I got in there, Tara was already sitting on the couch wrapped in a blanket.

"You ready for three of the best movies you will ever watch?" She laughed at me, and nodded eagerly.

She started sniffing the air as the popcorns were popping, and I laughed with my back turned, since I was starting up the DVD-player.

"Soon Coach Hedge will smell it and come down here" I snorted to myself. I grabbed the remote for the DVD-player and TV, but when I turned around, Tara had already fallen asleep.

I chuckled, and grabbed another blanket to put over her. She suddenly stirred, and looked at me with eyes wide awake.

"Oh, was that another flashback?" She nodded, and pulled the extra blanket closer, not even noticing I had put it there.

"More like, bits of memories from different places and times" She rubbed her eyes.

"The smell of popcorn, I'm playing Playstation with my brother, watching old movies with my grandparents, watching the Disney christmas show on christmas day." She straightened up and looked up at the TV.

"Always enough to give me an idea of where I am, never enough for me to remember something important. Like, my mothers name, or my favorite book" I sat down on the couch, in the opposite corner of her, with my own thin blanket. I don't really get cold, so I just wear them for the coziness.

"Do you wanna just.. sleep?" I asked, searching her face for a tell.

"I'm not tired-" She said, taking one of the popcorn-packets from me.

"Let's just watch the movie, Valdez" She stuffed a handful of popcorn in her mouth, and smile at me so I could see them. I laughed, and pressed the play button on the remote.

I was a little tired, but not too tired to hum along to the tune.

She was watching it for the first time, and I wanted to see her reaction. Her eyes were glued to the screen, right from the moment I saw "In a galaxy far away" Reflected in her wondering eyes.

She fell asleep halfway through the second movie, and I followed tail shortly after.

My last thought as I closed my eyes was "She didn't even mind my geeky comments" And then we slept, curled together in each our corner of the sofa.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N
> 
> I sWEAR I'M TRYING
> 
> Sorry for the long wait, I think I might be getting better, but seriously tho, pls dont give up on me?
> 
> pls senpai?
> 
> xxx NERD


End file.
